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Amazon Fire HD 8 2017 (amazon-douglas)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2017)
Fire HD 8 2017 booted and running weston.
Fire HD 8 2017 booted and running weston.
Manufacturer Amazon
Name Fire HD 8 (2017)
Codename amazon-douglas
Released 2017
Type tablet
Hardware
Chipset MediaTek MT8163
CPU Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU Mali-T730MP3
Display 800 x 1280 IPS LCD
Storage 16GB or 32GB
Memory 1.5 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android (Fire OS) 5.1 (Fire OS 5.3.7.1)
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android (Fire OS)
postmarketOS
Category downstream
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
no
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
3.18.19
Device package device-amazon-douglas
Kernel package linux-amazon-douglas
Features
Flashing
It is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Partial
USB Networking
After connecting the device with USB to your PC, you can connect to it via telnet (initramfs) or SSH (booted system).
Works
Battery
Charging and battery level reporting works
Works
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Broken
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Broken
Camera
Untested
Connectivity
WiFi
Broken
Bluetooth
Broken
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Untested
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching
Broken
Sensors
Accelerometer
Auto screen rotation works in desktops e.g. Phosh or Plasma Mobile
Untested

Contributors

Users owning this device

  • Autumn64 (Notes: Running Lineage)
  • Neko (Notes: LineageOS 17.1)
  • R0rt1z2 (Notes: Unlocked with amonet, UART wires soldered, running LineageOS 18.1 (unreleased))


Known Issues

  • When accessing the audio device (such as via hwtest), the device freezes. After reboot you may be prompted with a "Collecting Logs" screen with an Amazon logo, indicating some sort of firmware level log collector.
  • CPU1,2,3 continuously enable and disable themselves, with logs such as:
[  378.053320] -(3)[0:swapper/3]CPU3: Booted secondary processor
[  378.053334] -(3)[0:swapper/3][name:cpuinfo&]Detected VIPT I-cache on CPU3
[  378.053385] -(3)[0:swapper/3][name:topology&]CPU3: update cpu_capacity 1024
[  378.122632]  (0)[1829:kworker/0:2][name:mtk_wcn_stub_alps&][cmb_stub] thermal_ctrl_cb null
[  378.342631] -(0)[1600:kwin_wayland][name:sched_monitor&][BURST IRQ DURATION WARN] IRQ[ 51:musb-hdrc.0.auto] +1237 ( dur 30000 us , avg 24 us)
[  379.122661]  (0)[1829:kworker/0:2][name:mtk_wcn_stub_alps&][cmb_stub] thermal_ctrl_cb null
[  380.053771]  (1)[71:hps_main][name:smp&]CPU3: shutdown
  • Although the kernel can detect plugged in USB keyboard, nor X neither wayland can use the keyboard. evtest works tho. USB drives also mounts correctly..

How to enter flash mode

  • You need to be bootloader unlocked via this method: https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/orig-development/unlock-fire-hd-8-2017-douglas-t3962846.
  • After unlock, the normal fastboot doesn't let us flash in the required partitions? See notes on Amazon Fire HD 10 (amazon-suez).
  • Holding vol down + power gets you into TWRP.
  • Flash with the ADB sideload method.
  • However, the default recovery.zip generated by pmbootstrap flashes into the boot partition, not the boot_x partition which is what is needed for this device. The recovery.zip file has to be manually editted to replace boot with boot_x in chroot/install_options and chroot_bin/pmos_install_functions. Again, see notes on Amazon Fire HD 10 (amazon-suez).


Alternatively, you can flash just the boot_x partition and then flash the rest of the system on an external sdcard:

  • pmbootstrap install --sdcard=/dev/...: This will install the rootfs on a SD card mounted on your computer.
  • fastboot flash boot_x boot.img-amazon-douglas: This will flash the initramfs onto the device.
  • Then remove the sd card from your computer and insert it into the device. Then reboot it.
  • Future updates to the rootfs does not require additional fastboot operations.

See also